San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-07-30
MARY JAMES TRAVELS.
WITH DlCKEY SHE VISITS THE
SUNNY LAND OF FRANCE.
What the Two Women Find That Is Of
Interest I'm a Daylight Journey from
BouIogne to MarseiIIes-Dicksy's Obser-
vations Recorded.

vatlons Recorded.
! Special Correspondence
MARsEILLEs, France, June 81 have
heard a great deal about sunny France"
the "vine clad hills, =" and that sort Of poetic
slush, and counted it as so much paid the
printer for advertising, but | take It all
back now. There is sunny France" and
there are swine clad hills, and there Is every
thing that Is down ON the bills. Perhaps the
terrible month Of May in London had SOME
thing 10 do with making the sunshine Of the
rose month so delightful in France; do not
know; do not say. / only know that our
trip by daylight from Boulogne 10 Marscille9
was such a vacation for torpid liver that |
| earnestly advise every Englishman or Ameri-
can caught in London in bad weather TO try
il as we tried it. We made the journey in
three stages, stopping the first night in Paris,
the next two in Lyons, and closing at Mar
seilles
II was our first experience in a really foreign
land, and we enjoyed it as children enjoy a
picnic. IL was positive relief to get out Of
England, wtere everything in the country is
kept with such painful neatness, and see once
more plain board fence with gate loose on
the hinges, few stray weeds along the road
side, growing in an independent fashion, and
tree now and then, which did not have the
appearance Of being brought up as
pet. The country between Boulogne
and Paris Is fiat and rather uninter-
esting, except to the stranger who
is in France for the first time, and to
whom the invariable blue shirt of the peas
ant and the tall, monumental shade trees
along every roadway are more than forty
acres Of ancient ruins with history roosting
on every handful Of dust scattered over them
Speaking Of the blue shirted peasant re-
minds me that in England and France the
small farmer or the laborer shows his calling
in his clothes to a much greater extent than
among the same classes in America With
US sturdy farmer or workingman in his
shirt sleeves needs only his coat to make him
presentable on the street, but in these coun-
tries "the apparel oft doth proclaim the man."
his clothes always show what he is.
The ready made clothing man has not thai
hold on the affections of the people he has In
our own country, and, until he has, class ds,
tinctions will be noticeable by even the casual
observer.
We could see, too, very early in our trip
that we had reached country where the
prevailing religion differed from that of Eng
land, and the "cowled monk" was not an un-
usual sight at the stations and along the high
ways approaching the towns.
We reached Paris about In the afternoon,
and waited nearly half an hour to get our
baggage. They check baggage in London for
Paris, and we had ours checked three valises;
trunks are nuisance to European travelers)
in order to have the custom officials examine
them at Paris instead of at Boulogne, where
time was limited. We had them checked
again later for Lyons by paying penny, but
my advice is not to do it, for these foreigners
are the slowest creatures imaginable, and
when the traveller can't speak the language
baggage claiming is delusion and a snare
No nation on earth but our own has yet ac-
quired the art of making travel pleasure.
We slept in Paris, and the next evening were
in Lyons, after beautiful days ride along
pretty streams, green valleys and among
quaint old towns.
The next morning before starting out to see
the town l interviewed Dickey.
"Dickey," said l, "what do you know about
Lyonsp
"Oh," said she, ~ know all about 1t. I've
got splendid Lyons silk umbrella and Ly-
ons velvet dress that cost IS a yard in the
piece"
"But that isn't history" said |.
"But it's fact said she, (which all history
isn't. They are the genuine article, too, for
the handsome clerk in the store told me so,
and that Lyons was famous the world over
for its silk and velvet manufacture"
Further conversation developed no more
valuable information, and l concluded that
Dickey must be like some other American
girls knew, and didn't press my inquiries
However, Lyons has history and much Of
1t is stained with blood. 1t was here that the
guillotine, the most approved and rapid in
strument of dccapitation, was found too slow
by the revolutionary leaders of 1871, SO they
gave it up and went to shooting and drown
ing the objects of their vengeance. I have
seen several guilIotines, one of which had cut
off 10000 heads, so the guide said; and I
think | should prefer shooting or drowning,
though don't suppose it would make very
much difference half an hour after either OPP
GRAFTON were completed.
There's new Lyons and an old Lyons, and
In old Lyons l never had seen so many mar
row streets and high houses They looked
like Rocky mountain canyons with windows
in them. We ran around everywhere, and
finally adjourned 10 the heights of Fourviere,
where there is a great church and a great
view. We went into the chapel and It looked
like picture shop, for this is a place where
pilgrims come by millions and each one
seems to have left a white tablet or a small
memorial picture On the hillside below the
church is garden filled with sHrines and at
one saw a sight which caused reflection. In
a recess were life size figures Of Christ and
Mary, and between them stood a gardener
with broom In bis hand. Kneeling at the
entrance was a plainly dressed man, and as 1
watched the group it was difficult to say
whether the animate or inanimate figures
within were receiving the worship Of the
keeler. In any event the gardener and his
broom occupied the most conspicuous posi-.
ton and seemed proud Of it.
"Why don't they put up the sign Closed
tor REPAIRS" said Dickey, "or throw the
gardener over the fenceT'
"Don't talk So" said /; otis none of our
business. The poor man on his knees means
all right, and il the spiritual and temporal
are brought into rather unusual relations it is
not his fault"
We found Lyons a pleasant city, with
pretty girl at cur hotel who spoke English
quite well, and we should like to have seen
more Of it-churches, museums, Hotel de
Vile, parks, rivers and so on-but we had to
get away, and we did it regretfully.
The next afternoon found us in Marseilles;
the getty of the Sycamores" should call it,
for its streets are lined with them, in many
instances forming long continued archway